1 00:00:10,20 --> 00:00:11,45 Significant T.V. 2 00:00:11,57 --> 00:00:16,43 Significant story significant entrepreneurs' I'm your host phrenic Neal and joining 3 00:00:16,44 --> 00:00:21,67 me in the studio is another tiger that's true for those of you that didn't know I'm 4 00:00:21,68 --> 00:00:27,03 a Princeton University grad and joining me today is Valley Girl and she is 5 00:00:27,04 --> 00:00:29,56 a chef and I consult and she's 6 00:00:29,57 --> 00:00:35,85 a restaurant tour this is exciting everything but the samples Valerie welcome to 7 00:00:35,86 --> 00:00:41,24 the show thank you thank you so much for having me Oh my pleasure my pleasure I 8 00:00:41,28 --> 00:00:46,39 opened with the Princeton reference so I do want to sort of start there Princeton 9 00:00:46,40 --> 00:00:52,23 What was your major I majored in politics majored in politics how did you go from 10 00:00:52,24 --> 00:00:58,41 politics to from. Well I always loved to cook I learned to cook as 11 00:00:58,42 --> 00:01:05,32 a child you know really young my father taught me to cook and actually I cooked in 12 00:01:05,33 --> 00:01:08,94 college I went to the dining halls too but I never really thought of that is food 13 00:01:08,95 --> 00:01:11,78 service but I did spend 14 00:01:11,79 --> 00:01:18,04 a lot of time cooking with friends and that kind of thing and learning some 15 00:01:18,08 --> 00:01:24,58 international cooking when I was that Princeton and I really didn't know what to do 16 00:01:25,19 --> 00:01:29,06 after school and and and a friend of mine who's actually 17 00:01:29,07 --> 00:01:34,77 a professor at the University of. Nevada said I think you should do something in 18 00:01:34,78 --> 00:01:38,79 food and it's like All right well OK well that's 19 00:01:38,80 --> 00:01:42,57 a good stop gap job and so I applied for a job for 20 00:01:42,58 --> 00:01:46,66 a job in my favorite restaurant at the time which was the commissary in 21 00:01:46,67 --> 00:01:52,97 Philadelphia Oh absolutely oh that is a classic So when you apply for 22 00:01:52,98 --> 00:01:58,37 a job at the commissary did you get the general what I thought I got the job and I 23 00:01:58,38 --> 00:02:00,75 realize now having been. In the business for 24 00:02:00,76 --> 00:02:07,69 a long time that the commissary was unique in that it so it made very 25 00:02:07,70 --> 00:02:13,46 high quality very varied food but on a huge scale which meant it needed 26 00:02:13,94 --> 00:02:19,26 a lot of not that skilled labor and most restaurants are not like that most 27 00:02:19,27 --> 00:02:23,96 restaurants you kind of have to know what you're doing when you come in but because 28 00:02:24,24 --> 00:02:28,89 the commissary acquired such so much labor they would hire somebody with no 29 00:02:28,90 --> 00:02:32,78 experience. So you know if you if you look like you were 30 00:02:32,79 --> 00:02:36,88 a reasonable person and you come to work. I saw 31 00:02:36,89 --> 00:02:41,41 a big if in the restaurant industry then you got the job and I have to say I love I 32 00:02:41,42 --> 00:02:45,74 love that work I never thought I would I never thought I would take 33 00:02:45,75 --> 00:02:49,35 a job where I was using my hands I never thought I'd take 34 00:02:49,36 --> 00:02:53,54 a job where I was standing up all day and I can still remember like after the first 35 00:02:53,55 --> 00:02:58,43 couple days thinking this is a great and I was working in a basement we were in 36 00:02:58,44 --> 00:03:03,46 a basement kitchen with like thirty other people or something and I loved it loved 37 00:03:03,47 --> 00:03:09,02 it the passion often drives entrepreneurs and I mean some some folks would say it's 38 00:03:09,03 --> 00:03:13,43 an absolute requirement so how did you go from working in the basement to 39 00:03:13,44 --> 00:03:17,01 a job that you loved to only starting a restaurant owning 40 00:03:17,02 --> 00:03:23,83 a restaurant and being well known. I opened I opened my restaurant in two 41 00:03:23,84 --> 00:03:28,39 thousand and three we opened in Germantown and I lived in Germantown and one of the 42 00:03:28,40 --> 00:03:30,00 things that I do 43 00:03:30,01 --> 00:03:36,31 a couple of things that motivated me one was I got to the point where I felt like 44 00:03:36,77 --> 00:03:42,61 there wasn't anybody I really wanted to work for anymore if I and also I didn't 45 00:03:42,62 --> 00:03:45,05 feel the the burning need that 46 00:03:45,06 --> 00:03:50,55 a lot of people feel to own their own business to be their own boss I just wanted 47 00:03:50,56 --> 00:03:53,68 to work in a particular kind of place doing 48 00:03:53,69 --> 00:03:57,98 a kind of food and nobody was stowing it and so there was nobody doing it so I 49 00:03:58,02 --> 00:04:00,71 decided I'd do it myself and. I really wanted 50 00:04:00,72 --> 00:04:06,64 a nice restaurant in Germantown I didn't take into Of into account the fact that if 51 00:04:06,65 --> 00:04:11,21 I was working in that restaurant I still couldn't go there so we were disappointing 52 00:04:11,66 --> 00:04:12,11 and then 53 00:04:12,53 --> 00:04:17,14 a couple of years later we moved to Melanie airy which was more affluent area and 54 00:04:17,15 --> 00:04:23,18 kind of where I'm with most of my customers came from the restaurant focused on low 55 00:04:23,19 --> 00:04:28,12 country food which is the coast of South Carolina and Georgia My grandparents came 56 00:04:29,01 --> 00:04:32,97 once I came from South Carolina once it came from Georgia and 57 00:04:33,55 --> 00:04:39,44 a lot of the food that I made but not all of it were things I grew up eating or at 58 00:04:39,45 --> 00:04:44,34 least knowing about and then. I kind of hadn't have 59 00:04:44,35 --> 00:04:48,45 a real love of the food of the African Diaspora so I did things from the Caribbean 60 00:04:48,46 --> 00:04:52,78 and West Africa and North Africa. And I think 61 00:04:52,79 --> 00:04:57,98 a lot of our notice was because we were making food that other people weren't 62 00:04:58,13 --> 00:05:03,23 making but I didn't I never thought of it is that unusual but that was the comment 63 00:05:03,24 --> 00:05:07,80 I got over and over it's I go it's not like just regular steak and chicken I'm 64 00:05:07,81 --> 00:05:13,34 thinking it's you know it's just food but. Well let's talk about that 65 00:05:13,35 --> 00:05:17,60 a little bit more I mean you what was the name of the restaurant and why did you 66 00:05:17,61 --> 00:05:22,37 choose that name the name of the restaurant whiskey to go Rice cafe and cheese are 67 00:05:22,38 --> 00:05:26,95 the descendants of in slave Africans to live on the coast and islands of South 68 00:05:26,96 --> 00:05:31,19 Carolina in Georgia and as I said My mother's parents came from Charleston my 69 00:05:31,20 --> 00:05:37,18 father's parents came from Savannah and in the Low Country Rice was 70 00:05:37,19 --> 00:05:40,62 a staple crop not wheat which is more of 71 00:05:40,63 --> 00:05:47,23 a cold weather crop and I grew up eating rice every day and I mean that 72 00:05:47,24 --> 00:05:53,41 literally every day when I was growing up we had rice for dinner and so I kind of 73 00:05:53,42 --> 00:06:00,40 wanted. I kind of I wanted to acknowledge the place of rice in the 74 00:06:00,41 --> 00:06:04,72 life of the people so that's why I put in the rest in the name of the restaurant 75 00:06:04,99 --> 00:06:09,68 even though people sometimes with think that we were vegetarian or somehow that we 76 00:06:09,69 --> 00:06:14,31 only served Rice I never could understand that it's like do you go to one little 77 00:06:14,32 --> 00:06:19,90 house and think all the service knew it also but. Anyway but we got past that 78 00:06:20,14 --> 00:06:26,75 people recognize what a very menu we had and. I don't know what 79 00:06:26,76 --> 00:06:31,19 a rich tradition there was in the low country that we could really pay tribute to 80 00:06:31,33 --> 00:06:38,13 talk about some of the menu items that people really remarked over basis 81 00:06:38,18 --> 00:06:45,17 Well our most popular one was shrimp and and grits. I think the 82 00:06:45,18 --> 00:06:47,10 tripping groups this creates has become 83 00:06:47,14 --> 00:06:51,66 a lot more popular around the country these days and it has 84 00:06:51,67 --> 00:06:57,39 a lot of different stuff in it the one that we do was really simple and kind of 85 00:06:57,40 --> 00:07:01,04 white and creamy although it didn't have cream but it looked like that and just 86 00:07:01,05 --> 00:07:05,97 shrimp and it didn't have you know didn't have my shrooms and scallions and all all 87 00:07:05,98 --> 00:07:10,61 that kind of thing if I were making it at home I'd probably have bacon but I didn't 88 00:07:10,62 --> 00:07:17,35 put bacon in that restaurant so and we got I got stone ground grits that were flown 89 00:07:17,36 --> 00:07:23,56 in from actually are trucked in from South Carolina and that was that was one big 90 00:07:23,57 --> 00:07:29,28 thing that made that dish so wonderful that we got grits from Anson mills which is 91 00:07:29,29 --> 00:07:35,79 a really the premier vendor of organic grain and so 92 00:07:36,68 --> 00:07:40,37 what I often have people say that they didn't like grits until they tasted our 93 00:07:40,38 --> 00:07:47,22 grits. So that was that was one we made a pulled pork which is 94 00:07:47,23 --> 00:07:47,78 a more of 95 00:07:47,79 --> 00:07:51,88 a North Carolina thing but it was very similar the kind of stuff that I mean it 96 00:07:51,89 --> 00:07:55,04 wasn't what you would make at home we'd go out and have barbecue or you know bring 97 00:07:55,05 --> 00:07:58,81 it home but it was that kind of thing where we smoked the pork and in the house it 98 00:07:58,85 --> 00:08:05,68 in-house and sauce that with the. Huts hot sauce and Miniger sauce and served with 99 00:08:05,69 --> 00:08:11,78 Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas So those were those were two that we were very well 100 00:08:11,79 --> 00:08:18,39 known for. You're now talking in the past tense because the restaurant has 101 00:08:18,40 --> 00:08:23,78 closed entrepreneurial East speaking how did you make that decision to close the 102 00:08:23,79 --> 00:08:29,51 restaurant your baby you know what. It was you know what do they say you know in 103 00:08:29,52 --> 00:08:35,52 writing you got to kill your darlings but it was you know we were open for twelve 104 00:08:35,53 --> 00:08:38,37 years we had a lot of success and 105 00:08:38,38 --> 00:08:44,30 a lot of ways we got an awful lot of press coverage up to including being. The Food 106 00:08:44,31 --> 00:08:46,86 Network. But it was 107 00:08:46,87 --> 00:08:52,90 a very difficult business model when I opened in two thousand and three I opened as 108 00:08:52,91 --> 00:08:54,39 a B.Y.O.B. Was that was 109 00:08:54,40 --> 00:09:00,87 a really fireball thing to do in Philadelphia but as the years went past it became 110 00:09:01,57 --> 00:09:05,73 it became more and more difficult to operate that way and liquor licenses in the 111 00:09:05,74 --> 00:09:12,07 city are extremely expensive and. I didn't see 112 00:09:12,60 --> 00:09:14,42 it didn't it wasn't 113 00:09:14,43 --> 00:09:20,14 a reasonable thing I felt for the size restaurant I had to try to acquire 114 00:09:20,15 --> 00:09:23,86 a liquor license and stay in that neighborhood it was something that it would it 115 00:09:23,90 --> 00:09:27,62 would have had to have been sort of wholesale change like moving to 116 00:09:27,63 --> 00:09:32,50 a you know moving down town or moving to West Philadelphia or that kind of kind of 117 00:09:32,51 --> 00:09:37,54 thing and I just didn't that wasn't something I was really willing to do at that at 118 00:09:37,55 --> 00:09:42,59 that point so I decided to close the restaurant and just sort of move on OK so 119 00:09:42,60 --> 00:09:49,40 you've moved on Chef and consultant What is your life look like now well I do some 120 00:09:49,41 --> 00:09:52,92 projects on my own I done several things with 121 00:09:53,36 --> 00:09:58,63 a historic house in Germantown in Germantown Clifton that has has done 122 00:09:58,64 --> 00:10:01,99 a series of conversations about their kitchens they have 123 00:10:02,00 --> 00:10:04,63 a seventeenth century kitchen and 124 00:10:04,64 --> 00:10:07,95 a twentieth century kitchen so I've done food for those I did 125 00:10:07,96 --> 00:10:12,32 a thing this summer with the Philadelphia Giants project connected with the great 126 00:10:12,33 --> 00:10:19,06 migration so it was the first Friday of. Each month we honored one 127 00:10:19,07 --> 00:10:24,73 state that people migrated from to Philadelphia and started it with Virginia and it 128 00:10:24,74 --> 00:10:30,65 ended with Florida and so every month the jazz project would have would get 129 00:10:31,37 --> 00:10:35,74 musicians and sometimes they would be from the state sometimes they would just. 130 00:10:36,50 --> 00:10:41,44 Other other people who are from the state and I would come up with food that was 131 00:10:41,88 --> 00:10:48,53 relevant and produce that and serve it Wow Well I'm so sorry I didn't know. 132 00:10:49,99 --> 00:10:55,26 What you are you know let me on the e-mail list maybe I should ask what's coming up 133 00:10:55,30 --> 00:11:02,06 that I need to know. That sounds really cool so and then in October I'm 134 00:11:02,07 --> 00:11:05,96 doing another thing with clued in that based on your twentieth century kitchen 135 00:11:05,97 --> 00:11:09,95 which is a nine hundred fifty nine to kitchen so they're doing. A thing 136 00:11:09,96 --> 00:11:16,49 a mid century cocktail. Event and I think it's on October twenty second but. 137 00:11:18,32 --> 00:11:23,36 And so they're doing you know something I don't know how many probably 138 00:11:23,37 --> 00:11:30,07 a few cocktails and maybe why and I'm coming up with three order. 139 00:11:31,68 --> 00:11:33,84 Don't ask me what you don't know 140 00:11:34,41 --> 00:11:37,33 a lot of times you have to tweak things like that because 141 00:11:38,14 --> 00:11:42,26 a lot of the stuff that they serve to the sentry you wouldn't necessarily want to 142 00:11:42,27 --> 00:11:47,86 serve right now OK so but I'll come up with some you know some kind of word that I 143 00:11:47,87 --> 00:11:49,26 was sort of substantial because that is 144 00:11:49,27 --> 00:11:53,13 a cocktail event and you want people to have things to eat so that's one of the 145 00:11:53,14 --> 00:11:59,67 things. That I'm working on I work also with a chef at 146 00:11:59,68 --> 00:12:06,58 a place called material culture which is an offense space and. And I do 147 00:12:06,62 --> 00:12:10,23 some mentoring I just finished the orientation for 148 00:12:10,24 --> 00:12:15,60 a score of mentoring Oh great congratulations will sink in there because I'm really 149 00:12:15,66 --> 00:12:22,34 interested in that and and I thank you. I am working although don't hold me to any 150 00:12:22,35 --> 00:12:24,88 deadlines but I really would like to publish 151 00:12:24,89 --> 00:12:29,05 a cookbook. That's something that I'm here and I would guess I am going to hold you 152 00:12:29,06 --> 00:12:33,38 to all the glad I got so this is the business coaching me so I will be following up 153 00:12:33,39 --> 00:12:40,25 with you. That scary Wow And in terms of do you 154 00:12:40,26 --> 00:12:46,98 do private chef events I do so it really depends on what it is 155 00:12:47,11 --> 00:12:53,77 and. It really depends on what it is so I have done so some of that and 156 00:12:53,85 --> 00:12:58,96 it's more difficult if they're big I have to figure out where 157 00:12:59,00 --> 00:13:02,97 a kitchen because that's a very difficult thing to do from a home from 158 00:13:02,98 --> 00:13:08,04 a home kitchen but I had to have some partnerships that I. Working with Hope worked 159 00:13:08,05 --> 00:13:13,59 with the caterer downtown where I worked with her chef on the menu and then they 160 00:13:13,60 --> 00:13:18,71 produce it and people are always surprised when I tell them Look you know even in 161 00:13:18,72 --> 00:13:25,32 my restaurant I wasn't cooking all of those meals you realize. I was developing the 162 00:13:25,33 --> 00:13:31,10 menu and raining the people and making sure it was right so I do I do I do have 163 00:13:31,11 --> 00:13:33,54 that and I have another friend with 164 00:13:34,03 --> 00:13:38,50 a restaurant kitchen that he lets me work out of sometimes so if it's something not 165 00:13:38,51 --> 00:13:42,36 too huge I would work out of that kitchen with something big I would probably put 166 00:13:42,50 --> 00:13:46,81 a partner with somebody else to produce the few I'm sure some folks are wondering 167 00:13:46,82 --> 00:13:52,62 how to get in touch with you how should they get into well the easiest way is. 168 00:13:53,96 --> 00:14:00,55 If you can follow me on Twitter at Beachy girl cafe or you can reach me on Facebook 169 00:14:01,29 --> 00:14:06,87 writes cafe So those those are I mean I do have e-mail but that's hard to remember 170 00:14:07,05 --> 00:14:12,28 right so so so we can trigger Twitter and Facebook and we're also on Instagram we 171 00:14:12,29 --> 00:14:18,41 get to go cafe although I don't check program quite as often occurs where I'm on 172 00:14:18,42 --> 00:14:24,77 all the time. Well Valerie this is an exciting I am I again I'm so sorry that I 173 00:14:24,78 --> 00:14:30,51 missed the Jazz Project Yeah but I did in October I'm going to put me on the list I 174 00:14:30,52 --> 00:14:36,10 don't know I will really exciting Well this this is great to hear the story of 175 00:14:36,11 --> 00:14:42,56 transition entrepreneur restaurants who are now doing the consulting and now also 176 00:14:42,57 --> 00:14:47,64 mentoring so wonderful Well thank you let's continue to stay in touch and if you 177 00:14:47,65 --> 00:14:53,27 need us a taste tester OK I'll keep it in mind by the delegates here it's 178 00:14:53,28 --> 00:14:58,70 a significant story significant samples thinking if we get entrepreneurs I'm your 179 00:14:58,71 --> 00:15:03,53 host friend McNeil continue to follow us on Facebook Twitter and You Tube. 180 00:15:30,60 --> 00:15:30,72 And.